Why Can’t I Cast Farther? Here’s How To Add More Than 10-Feet To Your Fly Cast

There could be multiple reasons why you’re not able to break 20 or 30-feet while casting. The good thing is that the solutions to your problem aren’t hard to implement and only take a bit of practice.

Before you get tangled in brush at your favorite honey-hole, put some practice in first. Fly fishing at a local pond, your backyard, or within an open patch of grass is a great way to fool around and tune in your casting skills.

Short Fly Rods Limit Distance

For starters, casting on smaller rods does limit how much distance you get. Even with a double-haul cast, there’s a max distance. Using an 8’6″ or longer fly rod will help extend your reach.

If length isn’t a major concern, then it comes down to how you move.

Use The Momentum

It could be that you need to better use the momentum of your dry-casting and pause longer during your forward / backward casts until your line rolls out straight in the air. Really feel the weight of the line drawing your rod back before shooting the line forward.

Longer casts mean that you might need to ‘load’ the rod more — allowing the rod to bend while building power. Think of your rod as an arm of a bow. As you draw the bow back the power is built up within the arms. When you let go, the bow flexes back and the string shoots the arrow forward.

The same thing goes for fly rods. As you are casting in the air, the weight of the line going backward is bending the fly rod back — building power — then as you go forward it will release the rod and shoot the line. An important note is that the rod won’t bend backward (building power) unless you pause and let the line roll out straight behind you. Remember the words, “10-o’clock, 2-o’clock.”

Use A Double-Haul Cast

The double-haul cast is a more advanced style of casting used to build line speed. Double-haul casts require the use of your non-dominant hand to pull and ‘push’ the fly line in the build-up of your cast. The video above perfectly demonstrates how to perform a double-haul cast. They are great for cutting through the wind and driving your line out over the water without having to use much energy. However, it does add a degree of difficulty to your casts as it needs greater attention to the timing of your forward and backward casts. Even the slightest delay in loading the rod means losing all the built-up momentum, which will cause your line to fall.

Strip Line Out

One thing that might help is stripping a couple of feet of line out of your reel and pinching the top end of the loop in your hand. Work your way up to about 20-feet of line in the air when you’re dry casting. Once you cast forward and shoot your line out, let go of that loop and guide the extra line up through the guides.

And to be honest, casting shouldn’t limit your catching ability too much. Learning how to position yourself within range of fish is half the battle. Most fish I catch on the streams and rivers around me are within 20-feet.